Naruto: A Journey Retold
by Thunderbird93
Summary: The journey of a young ninja whose life was defined as a struggle. The challenges he meets, are overcome through his determination. The bonds he creates, help him rise to become a legend. (M for future violence, language, and sex)
1. Chapter 1

(Obligatory Authors Note)

Hello, and this is my first humble attempt at writing. I write this little humble piece of fanfiction with a couple of goals in mind.

1) This will be a retelling of how I feel Naruto would have been written, without the Shounen Jump-isms found in those stories.

2) At no point will I go to bash characters in the story. I feel bashing character doesn't allow for them to be interesting plot elements there for, my own like or dislike of characters will not effect the story.

3) I will also be avoiding certain cliches within the Naruto fanfiction community. That means no civilian council, since the only council I know of in canon for Konoha, is the Konoha Council. Also I do not believe in the idea of "fox hunts" or multiple beatings. I feel Naruto's true struggle came from being ignored. There for I want his sorrow to come from being alone, and or ignored, not from beatings or over priced items.

4) I'll try not to include Japanese, just to have it in characters conversations. There will be small exceptions, most pertaining to jutsu, or proper names. Suffixes like "Sama" will be replaced with Lord. I don't disparage against writers who do this, but to me it feels distracting in a story. If I want moments of cross coding, I want them to be heavy plot points, but that again is my humble opinion.

5) I want character interactions to feel genuine, which helps tie into point 1. There for I want the bonds between Naruto and Sasuke to feel like it was a rivalry/friendship, or the romance that build between characters to be believable.

6) If at any point you feel I'm going against the points I established, please give me constructive review and I'll put it through a rewrite. If I chose not to, it will be most likely because I have something in the plot worked out to hit said conflict.

While has a policy about flamers let me say the following; I honestly could care less if you flame or not. I don't take things like that personally, and honestly think its a waste of both the parties time. Don't do that to anyone else, but just know you're wasting your time if you think it will bug me.

And without further ado, Naruto: A Legacy Retold

* * *

Once, there lived a fox spirit with nine tails, and he was so powerful that whenever he shook his tails, landslides and tsunamis would result.

The suffering people gathered the great shinobi clans to fight this menace.

Finally, risking his life, one ninja was able to imprison its soul.

Having defeated the demon, the brave shinobi died. That shinobi was the Fourth Hokage, the Fire Shadow, and Champion of the Village Hidden in the Leaves…

* * *

It was a quiet day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun was brightly shinning and it was about noon, the busiest time of the day in the village. Overlooking the village was a mountain known as the Hokage Rock. This mountain served as a symbol that the Hokage would always be looking over the village. There were four faces carved into the mountain, the four men who have served the village in the role of the Hokage. On this particular day however, if one where to look upon the faces that were carved into the mountain, they would see various drawings and insults, such as fools and idiots, painted on the four faces. Hanging from a rope was a child laughing like a maniac, armed with a paint can and brush, drawing a spiral on the face the farthest to the left.

"Lord Hokage!" One shinobi cried out to a figure who was painting on a scroll while smoking from a pipe. This elderly man, nearing his seventies, was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, a powerful ninja hailed as "God of Shinobi." His skin was light, his hair grey, and he had wrinkles and liver spots of old age showing, but he also held an element of nobility and wisdom. "Yes? What is it?" He turned around from his painting to look at the shinobi. "Some new outrage by Naruto, I presume?" "That young devil is graffiti-ing the mountainside image of all the heroes of our village-your honored predecessors!" One shinobi exclaimed. "In paint!" The first one added. Hiruzen put on his customary red hat that resembled a kasa, which adored the kanji for 'fire' on it, and drew another hit of his pipe. He sighed as he joined the shinobi to see what mischief the young Naruto had caused this time.

Atop the Academy, the basis and center of most shinobi related business and the spot closest to the Hokage Rock, several shinobi had looked above at the young vandal, and some had even decided to shout out to him. "Enough with the stupid pranks!" "We're sick of it! Grow the hell up already!" "Look at 'im…you're dead when they catch you! You know that?" However none of these comments bothered Naruto as he finished his last bit of painting. He turned around with the biggest smile on his face and retorted "LOOOSERS! You don't have what it takes to do something like this during the busiest time of the day!"

A few of the shinobi who had been listening would never admit it, but they knew he had a point. It was a pretty good display of future shinobi skill shown by the troublesome Naruto. _'Surely they'll be able to acknowledge my awesome skills after this!'_ Naruto thought. One more shinobi shouted out "How dare you?! Who do you think we are?!" By this time the Third Hokage appeared on the roof with the other shinobi and looked at the now defaced mountain. Beside him a shinobi with a scar across his nose spoke out while looking at Naruto. "Lord Hokage…I can't apologize enough…" The Third turned to the shinobi, "Oh! Is that you, Iruka…?" Iruka was a bit stunned how the Hokage seemed to have forgotten about him. As the Hokage looked up at the young troublemaker, Iruka regained his composure, then shouted to Naruto, "What do you think you're doing, you idiot? Get down from there and get back to class!" Naruto fumbled around from his rope as he panicked. "It's Iruka-sensei! I'm so screwed this time!"

Throwing his brush to the ground and untying his rope around his waist, he jumped to the ground as two shinobi gave chase. Still laughing at his handy work he ran further into the village with the two ninja on his tail. "Naruto! Come back here!" the first ninja huffed out. "When I get my hands on you!" "You crossed the line this time, Naruto!" The second one shouted out as he shook his fist at Naruto. Jumping from roof to roof, Naruto decided to taunt his persuaders. "You'll never catch me!" Naruto always loved to pull pranks and be chased by other ninja. While he would get great joy from his handy work, he also relished the fact that he could get unofficial and practical training from ninja who tried to catch him. He had great speed resulting from running from anyone trying to punish him, and he developed amazing stealth tactics from hiding if his opponents where just a bit too fast for him to outrun alone.

 _'These guys are a bit faster than those pushovers I outran last week, time to use the most basic hiding technique and see if I can fool them!'_ Naruto thought. Seeing a fence ahead to his right he pulled out a sheet that let him blend in with the fence. As the two ninja passed by still enthralled with their chase, Naruto dropped the sheet and started to laugh. _'That was too easy, I can't believe Chunin fell for that!'_ Just then he felt someone grab his forearm, "Naruto, you're going back to class, even if I have to tie you up and drag you!" Iruka had loomed over Naruto, as if to show both authority and anger at the young orange clad boy.

* * *

True to his threat, Iruka had managed to tie up Naruto and bring him back to the class room. Iruka had managed to put Naruto in front of his peers as he prepared himself to give another lecture to the orange clad student. "I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance, so you chose now for your stupid tricks?!" Naruto who had been angry that he was tied up and sitting on the ground just let out an annoyed huff.

Iruka was stunned by Naruto lack of interest, so Iruka decided on another approach. "Fine! Because you missed it Naruto, EVERYONE will review the art of transformation!" At these words the rest of the classroom filled with the moans of complaint. The students all lined up in front of the class and each performed the transformation jutsu, doing their best to make themselves look like their teacher. Some of the student waiting in line weren't happy and decided to let their frustration out onto Naruto. "This is all your fault Naruto." One boy stated. "We wouldn't have to pay for your mistakes if you would just behave once in a while!" One girl shouted. Naruto just sighed as he put his hands on his waist. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, like I care." He was less annoyed with his classmates and more annoyed that he let his guard down earlier and got tied up by his teacher. "Next up, Uzumaki." Iruka listed off his checklist of students. _'This sucks.'_ Naruto sighed to himself. _'But…this does give me a good chance to pay back Iruka for tying me up, instead of just walking me back here.'_ He chuckled to himself as he formulated a small little way of payback.

In the back of the line was a girl with short indigo hair and pupil-less, but light lavender colored eyes, poking her index fingers together as she looked at Naruto with a light blush on her face. _'Naruto, I know they can be a little harsh, but do your best.'_ She thought to herself. Hinata Hyuga, knew today would be full of excitment when she saw Naruto wasn't in class earlier in the day, and although she liked to see his smile when he committed pranks, she did wish he wouldn't always get into trouble. Furthermore, she had hoped he wasn't hurting his chances of graduating when he missed their lesson on transformation.

Naruto stood in front of Iruka and put his hands in the Ram formation of hand seals and gathered a blue energy around him as he yelled "Transform!" Smoke had surrounded Naruto and had begun to float away from where he was standing. Gone was the orange clad, blonde haired boy and in his place was a naked blonde haired girl, with two pigtails that reach 'her' waist, and smoke covering 'her' private areas. Sealing the transformation was a sultry look in the 'girls' eyes and a wink and air kiss combo. Iruka was gob smacked by the sudden appearance of this naked female and had to fight from nearly passing out from shock. Another cloud of smoke appeared and Naruto was back to his normal appearance, laughing at his handy work. "How do you like that Iruka-sensei? I call that the ninja-centerfold!" The prankster blonde exclaimed.

Naruto didn't like the idea of using this technique for anything other than a shocking distraction, since he felt wrong doing research to get the anatomy right, but he felt a special exception could be made. "I could have done the jutsu normally, but you insisted on tying me up to get me back to class, so I thought I'd pay you back for that." Iruka, having recovered from the near shock he just went though, had a noticeable anger on his face and shouted, "How big of a fool are you?! You waste all your time and talent inventing these stupid tricks!" The rest of the day in the classroom went off without a hitch after that incident, and the end of the school day came quickly.

* * *

From the defaced mountain, one could see a scaffold with a figure clad in orange on it. Naruto was charged with cleaning up his latest prank, and his teacher watched him like a hawk from a bit higher. With his arms crossed Iruka looked down at Naruto, who was making progress on one of the spirals on the First Hokage's face, but grumbling to himself. "You're not going home until you've cleaned off every single drop of paint." Iruka scolded. Naruto looked up from his work, "So what? It's not like there's anyone waiting at home for me." As he hung his head back down to work, Iruka noticed a somber feeling over his student. He thought for a second then spoke up. "Naruto?" He asked, in a calmer tone. Again Naruto looked up to Iruka, this time with a more annoyed looked on his face. "What now Sensei?" "Well…I was just thinking, maybe after you've cleaned this all up, I could take you out for some ramen." It was no secret to anyone in the village that the young aspiring ninja loved ramen, and Naruto's face lit up after the mention of his favorite food. "Sure! Talk about some serious motivation, Iruka-sensei! I'll have this clean in no time!" And before he knew it, Naruto was able to finish his work.

That evening both Naruto and Iruka were eating at a small ramen shop called Ichiraku's. When Naruto received his bowl of miso ramen, the effort of cleaning the paint off of the Hokage's faces was immediately forgotten. Halfway through his bowl Iruka decided to break the silence. "Naruto, why would you deface the Hokage faces, of all places? You know who the Hokage are to the village, don't cha?" Naruto finished slurping up his noodles and took a second to swallow. "Of course I do." He then started to drink the remaining broth from his bowl. "Everybody knows. To inherit the Hokage title, they'd have to be the best shinobi in the village. And the Fourth Hokage save our village by finding a way to beat the demon fox." "Then why did you-" "Because, one of these days I'm gonna be greater than any of them. One of these days they'll be calling me Lord Hokage," Naruto then pointed his chopsticks at Iruka, along with a triumphant smile. "And when that day comes, everyone in the village will have to give me some respect at last!" Iruka just slurped his last noodle with a stunned look on his face. He had no idea that Naruto really was driven towards a goal for the future. All the times in class Naruto would take very little interest in his studies, choosing to go play pranks on different villagers, or doze off in the middle of a lecture, but when he made this statement, Iruka could see a fire in Naruto's sky blue eyes that he rarely ever saw.

"By the way, uh, I kinda want to ask a little favor Sensei." Naruto put his hands together in a pleading manor. "Another bowl of ramen?" Iruka blankly asked. "No, I wanna try on your headband, please?" Iruka chuckled as he reached up to his headband. It was a navy blue band that had a metal forehead protector with a leaf symbol that had a spiral in the middle. "Oh this? No way. You can only wear this when you finally graduate from the Academy, and become a ninja. You've got to pass your test tomorrow!" Naruto just gave a defeated sigh as Iruka chuckled so more. "So that's why you took off your goggles!" True enough, Naruto's dark green goggles could be seen right next to his empty bowl. "Another bowl here, please!" Naruto figured if he couldn't try the headband just yet, he'd get one more bowl on his sensei at the very least.

* * *

The next day, Naruto was in class, albeit, hunched over on his table bored out of his mind. Iruka walked into the classroom with a clipboard in his hand. "We will start the final exam. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. For your final exam, you will be tested on the clone jutsu." Naruto sat up in utter shock at the mention of the clone jutsu. _'Why did it have to be the clone jutsu?! That's my worst technique!'_ Naruto, despite seeming like a slacker, did have a few theories as to why he can never do this jutsu. He knew he had a much bigger pool of chakra compared to any of his classmates, and ever his teachers, which would make his already abysmal chakra control that much harder to do. He also speculated that because the clone jutsu worked as an illusion only, and not a true clone, he was at a disadvantage again because he couldn't grasp the concept of anything pertaining to genjutsu, the art of illusion.

Finally Naruto's name was called and he went into the testing room. It was rather empty save for the table closest to the two doors where his teachers, Iruka and Mizuki were sitting. On top of the table laid a bunch of navy blue banded head protectors, enough for all the students should they all pass. Naruto took his spot in the middle of the room, and made the ram hand sign, while trying to focus his chakra to make a perfect clone of himself. The resulting smoke revealed an ill looking clone, laying on the ground unable to move. Naruto looked to his teachers in shock, while Iruka looked at Naruto and his sickly clone, his eye slightly twitching. "You fail!"

Naruto could only hold his head down in shame, no matter how hard he tried he could not pull this jutsu off successfully, and this had been his best result. The silver haired teacher seated next to Iruka spoke up. "Iruka, this is his third time, and he did manage to basically conjure up his other self, even if it was a little flawed…" Mizuki paused. _'I'm not so great at the clone technique myself,'_ he thought to himself. "But what if we cut him a break and pass him-" Naruto's head perked up upon hearing these words and the biggest and most hopeful smile was seen upon his face. "The other students created at least three effective replications. But Naruto could only create one, and he did it very badly." Upon hearing Iruka speak up Naruto smile turned into a look of anger, frustration, and betrayal. Mizuki was willing to give him a break, and Iruka had to shoot it down. Iruka even knew how much this meant to him as well which made it all the more painful. "His performance doesn't merit a passing grade Mizuki; the answer is no."

* * *

Several students and parents stood outside the Academy, all gathered and talking to one another. Under the shade of a tree was a swing that Naruto had sat down at, looking at all the proud parents, and happy children. "I'm so proud of you son!" "Congratulations! Tonight your mother is gonna cook up a big feast!" "I can't wait to start missions, we're all adults now!"

Naruto looked at the sight and listened to the various conversations between parents and children. Gone was the usual smile that adorned his face, and replacing it were sad eyes and a look of gloom. His goggles were gone, and his hopes of replacing it with a head protector were dashed. Among the crowd two women could be seen looking at Naruto on the swing. "Hey, isn't he the kid who-" One woman whispered. "Yeah that's him. The only one who failed!" The other replied. At this point Naruto could tell they were talking about him. "Serves him right…" The first woman stated. "Can you imagine if they let someone like that become a shinobi?" The other woman asked. "I mean he's the boy who-" "Shush! We're not allowed to talk about that!" The other woman interrupted.

At this point Naruto had heard enough. He put on his googles, and took off, head hanging down so no one could see the look on his face. Hinata, who had been outside of the crowd for some air, looked towards the swing as the blonde got up and left. _'Naruto…are your parents not here to see your dream come true? Is that why you're sad?'_ She thought to herself. As far as she knew, everyone in class had passed, so she was perplexed as to why he seemed so sad.

She wasn't the only one looking at where Naruto used to be. Among the crowd Iruka and the Third Hokage had been standing side by side. "Iruka, could I have a word later…?" The Third calmly asked. "Of course." He replied. Mizuki had also noticed Naruto took off and decided to follow him. Naruto had gotten far but finally Mizuki caught up. "Naruto." He stated. Naruto looked back to see the silver haired sensei behind him. "Mizuki-sensei!"

The sun had started to set upon the village, and on top of a balcony Mizuki and Naruto had been sitting, feet dangling off as they started at the golden and orange skyline. "Iruka may have said some tough things, but he's not against you." Naruto still staring at the sunset looked at Mizuki. "But then why was it only me who couldn't pass? Why didn't he give me a break like you suggested?" Mizuki took a deep breath as he looked at Naruto's sad eyes. "Because he wants to help you to be strong, with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you. He's like you…" Naruto seemed shocked at these words, but then hid away behind his gloom face again. "No parents, no family. Try to give him a break, you can understand where he's coming from can't you? One orphan to another?" Naruto thought to himself.

It's true he didn't have either of his parents, or a family to take him in. But he strove to be the best he could so that someone would acknowledge him one day. Some day he would know what it's like to feel pride from someone else at achieving his goals. But again, Naruto sighed. "But I really tried hard this time, and wanted to graduate." Mizuki looked at the young boy and smiled at him. "How would you like another chance to graduate?"

* * *

Nightfall had come and Naruto could be seen sneaking into a window. He was told that this was a way to test his infiltration and stealth, skills much more practical to a shinobi compared to the clone technique in his opinion. Eventually he had found what he was told to look for, the Scroll of Seals, a scroll containing many techniques, sealed away by the First Hokage.

Naruto couldn't believe his luck, all he had to do was bring it to a Chunin waiting for him in the forest and he could pass. He took off towards the forest in search of the location he was told to meet. However when he got there he didn't see an instructor anywhere to evaluate his performance. So he decided to open the scroll for a bit of bonus learning. If there was one thing Naruto liked as much as ramen, it was learning new jutsu. One of the first ones that caught his eye was listed as the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. It derived from the Shadow Clone Technique, which creates corporeal copies rather than illusions. _'The user's chakra is to be evenly distributed among each clone, and can even fool the Sharingan and Byakugan.'_ Naruto read to himself. _'I'm not sure what either of those are, but if it's worth noting then it must be important.'_ Naruto continued to read the techniques notes and description.

The only risk factor Naruto noted was that if a user's chakra is low, they could use up their chakra quickly and die from chakra exhaustion. Naruto smiled, this had been the solution he's always wanted to deal with his massive chakra pool. He immediately started to work through the processes of leaning these jutsu.

* * *

Iruka laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, reflecting on the words of the Third Hokage earlier that day. "I understand how you feel about the boy, Iruka. Growing up, like you, without his parents' love." Iruka closed his eyes and reflected on that night fourteen years ago. Fourteen years ago is when the demon fox attacked the village.

Iruka remembered the destruction around him as a ninja took him away from battle for his safety. The children and villagers were being taken somewhere to remain safe, while the shinobi and shinobi clans kept the fox at bay. He knew his parents fought bravely, but in the aftermath of the attack young Iruka was told that his parents were among the many who fell that night. Suddenly Iruka opened his eyes to the sound of frantic knocking upon his door. Iruka got out of bed to open his door, to be met with a shinobi with a worried look. "Iruka, its Naruto! Somehow…he's found out about and stole the Scroll of Seals!"

* * *

Several shinobi had been gathered around the Third's home, as he stood waiting for the rest who had been called. Some of the shinobi had been already conversing about recent events. "Lord Hokage, Naruto's gone too far this time! This is not just a prank, this is a serious crime!" A gruff shinobi shouted. "If misused, or fell in the wrong hands it could be deadly to the village, and our entire way of life." Another shinobi with an eye patch interjected. Hiruzen drawing another worried puff of his pipe, looked around and saw all the shinobi he called for had arrived. "Alright now that you're all here, bring Naruto here at once!" And with that he dismissed then with a hand gesture. As the ninja took off, Hiruzen thought to himself. _'Naruto, why would you do this? I know you want to be a great ninja, but surely you wouldn't do anything foolish to jeopardize that knowingly…would you?'_

* * *

As the shinobi continued to search, Naruto had just finished his study of the new promising technique. Sitting on the ground exhausted, he looked at the scroll again seeing if there was anything else of interest within the time he might have had left. _'Let's see now, since I have time to look, maybe I can write something down to study for later. Won't Iruka-sensei be so proud of me!'_ As he looked his eye caught something familiar to him. _'Uzumaki? Does this mean I could have family I don't know about?'_ As Naruto looked at the words and images illustrated on the scroll he took out a small scroll from his pocket along with a brush and ink. He always kept this on hand whenever he needed to make notes before planning his pranks, but now he could use it to add to the puzzle of his linage, and future ability as an aspiring shinobi. _'If Lord Hokage didn't tell me about this, perhaps there is a reason…still I will do whatever it takes to learn more about this.'_ The first words he wrote down read 'Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.'

* * *

As Naruto packed everything up he had almost given up on hope on this bonus opportunity to pass that is until he saw Iruka looking down at him. "Well I finally found you!" Iruka panted. Naruto started to chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. "About time you got here Sensei! I was able to manage to learn one technique since you took so long." Iruka looked stunned and the lack of worry on Naruto's face. Furthermore he was shocked to hear Naruto had learnt something from the Scroll of Seals. _'He's been out here practicing?'_ Interrupted from his thought, Naruto spoke up. "Wait until I show you! I never dreamed…some of the shinobi arts are so amazing!"

"Naruto, why are you carrying that scroll? Don't you know what it is?" Iruka inquired. Naruto's face lit up when Iruka noticed the scroll he had strapped around him. "Of course I do Sensei! I was told that if I could find and take the scroll without being caught, and meet the Chunin waiting for me out here, it would show my abilities in stealth and infiltration, and allow me to pass!" "Naruto who-" But before Iruka could finish he pushed Naruto out of the way, as a barrage of incoming kunai pinned Iruka to the cabin in the forest, and the ones that didn't pin his clothes, had entered his legs.

"So you found our little hide away, did you?" A sinister voice called out. "Now I understand!" Iruka coughed out. Above in a tree crouched a figure with two giant shuriken strapped to his back, revealed his image from the shadow of night, and revealed his silver hair. "Naruto, give me the scroll, now!" The now revealed figure that was Mizuki called. Naruto looked puzzled upon hearing the urgency in Mizuki's voice. "Wait a minute, what's going on here?" Iruka, struggling with the kunai in his legs and shoulders cried out, "Naruto, don't let him have it! Protect it with your life! It holds the record of completely forbidden ninja arts! Mizuki used you because he wants it for himself!" Upon hearing this Naruto growled at Mizuki, while Mizuki regained his composure. "Naruto, Iruka is just trying to scare you, because he doesn't want you to have the scroll." Naruto growl suddenly became confusion as he looked at his injured sensei. "Stop lying Mizuki!" Iruka hissed, "Don't let him trick you, Naruto!" Mizuki started to laugh. "Oh I'll tell you who's really lying!" "NO MIZUKI!" Iruka shouted. "They've been lying to you your whole life, Naruto, since the decree fourteen years ago." Naruto looked stunned, people had been lying to him? And why since fourteen years ago? The only thing that could be noteworthy would be the attack on the village by the demon fox.

"I don't remember any decree…" Naruto silently said. "You wouldn't. Part of that decree was that everyone would know about it…except you! Iruka's trying to hide it even now!" Naruto was too enthralled with what was being said, but confusion was still racing through his mind. "Why not me? What law are you talking about?" "DON'T TELL HIM, ITS FORBIDDEN!" Iruka shouted, his voice carrying more urgency than before.

Mizuki chuckled at the injured sensei. "That no one must ever tell you, the nine tailed fox is inside you!" Naruto's comprehension for what could have been revealed was shattered at this fact. "The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents, and destroyed our village, and taken over your body. Didn't you think it was strange? To be so despised, everywhere you went?" At this point, Naruto could only get angry, and growl, his chakra surrounding him in a violent cyclone. Mizuki had seen the 'truth' affecting the boy and decided to drive the final nail in the proverbial coffin. "Even your beloved sensei couldn't if he were just honest with himself! You never knew a parent's love…since the day of your birth, you've been shunned by the entire village. No one will ever accept you! The best you could ever hope for was attention, not love. And you could only do that by doing things that would get you into trouble!" Mizuki paused to let it sink in. "And you didn't care, you were just willing to accept any criticism, so long as it meant someone was paying attention to you. That scroll you've stolen…it was the instrument of your bondage!"

As Mizuki finished he grabbed one of the giant shuriken from his back and started to spin it, to get throwing force behind it. As he released it, Naruto realized it was coming towards him. He tried to jump out of the way but Mizuki must have planned for that because the giant shuriken arced towards where Naruto though he would be safe. All of a sudden Naruto realized he was on the ground, with his sensei looking down at him, as he hunched over Naruto. Iruka had used his body to shelter over Naruto, as he took the giant shuriken to the back. Both Naruto and Mizuki were stunned. Finally something let Naruto speak, "Why? Why would you do that Sensei?" "Because we are both the same…I know I was hard on you, yelling and scolding you…it must have hurt…forgive me. If I'd been a better teacher…a better self...maybe neither of us would have come to this." Naruto choked up a bit, but then a fire lit in his eyes, and he took off into the forest.

Mizuki jumped down from his tree and chuckled as he stared at an injured Iruka. "Did you see that look in your protégé's eyes? Those were the eyes of the demon fox!" As Iruka reached to take the shuriken out of his back, Mizuki continued. "What a pity…but once Naruto sets his mind on something, he can't be dissuaded. I bet he's going to use the scroll to take his revenge on the village!" Iruka tossed the shuriken at the silver haired man, but Mizuki easily dodged it. With that burst of power, Iruka had fallen down again "As soon as I get that scroll, I'll be back to take care of you." Mizuki seethed.

* * *

As Naruto jumped from tree top to tree top he noticed he was being followed by Iruka. "Give me the scroll Naruto! It's what Mizuki's after, I'll take it and you can get out of here!"

Naruto jumped ahead to the next tree branch, only to turn around and quickly jump towards Iruka, his fist connecting with the teachers gut. Iruka fell to the ground as Naruto landed near him. As Naruto took the scroll off his back, Iruka was enveloped by smoke. "How did you know it was me and not Iruka!?" Mizuki said as the smoke cleared. Naruto chuckled. "Because…" He started as he was enveloped by similar smoke, "Because I'm Iruka." The injured Chunin said as the smoke cleared. He managed to lean against a tree as he fell to a seated position, as Mizuki stood up from his tumble. "Why are you protecting him? What happens if we let him live?" Mizuki spat out in disgust.

Iruka coughed, then smiled. "Then maybe the scroll is safe from a complete scumbag." Nearby, Naruto was hiding behind a tree as he stared at the two Chunin, protecting the scroll in his arms. "Naruto and I are two of a kind, Iruka. The demon in him and I both hunger for the power in that scroll. That's how beast are Iruka." Naruto was listening, just wanting this to end, but the next words he heard, nothing could prepare him for them. "You're right." _'So it's true…Iruka-sensei really does hold me…in contempt…'_ Naruto hung his head down to fight tears. "That is what beast would do, but not Naruto, not the boy. I have nothing but respect for him, he's an excellent student." Naruto held his head up, amazed that his teachers true thoughts came to light, and that they were positive. "He works with all his might," Iruka continued as he coughed up some blood. "But sometimes, even so, he's awkward, clumsy…a screw-up…people mock him on a daily basis and shun him…but it's given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain. That is not the characteristics of a demon, for he is a citizen of Kohonagakure Village, He is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto, who had been touched by these kind words started to cry tears of joy, while Mizuki fought to keep his disgust from showing. "So, you really believe that shit?" Mizuki reached for his last giant shuriken. "I was gonna save you for later, but I changed my mind…I'll finish you now!" As Mizuki prepared to throw his spinning shuriken, Iruka closed his eyes, willing to accept death as an old friend.

However the pain never came, because Naruto jumped from his hiding spot and sent a kick to Mizuki's jaw, knocking him back a good distance. As Naruto slid to a halt, he took the scroll of his back and propped it up as one would use a cane. "If you try to touch Iruka-sensei again…I'LL KILL YOU!" Mizuki spat out some blood. "Such big words, I could kill you with one blow, you loudmouthed brat!" Naruto crossed his first two fingers on both his hands, to form a hand sign that differed from the basic ones taught to him at the Academy. "Take your best shot. Whatever you throw at me, I'll give back a thousand fold!" "You're welcome to try, little fox!" Iruka looked on in amazement at his student's newfound resolve, as Naruto yelled, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Suddenly Mizuki was surrounded by thousands of perfect copies of the orange clad boy. The ones who couldn't surround Mizuki were all standing or crouching on tree branches. _'Amazing! He not only generated a thousand clones, but he made them solid, instead of being illusions.'_ Iruka thought proudly. Mizuki, however had a different reaction. Looking all around him, he started to panic, not believing that this could have been done by a student who couldn't pass earlier in the day. "What's the matter, Mizuki? Come and get me!" One of the clones taunted. "You said you were gonna kill me with one move right? Come on then!" Another clone said. "Well then…I guess we're gonna have to come after you." The original coldly stated. All Mizuki could do was scream out in terror, as a thousand solid clones came down with a beating of a lifetime Mizuki wouldn't ever forget.

As Mizuki laid on the ground unconscious and bloody, the original Naruto looked over him while scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Heh…I guess I got carried away, huh Iruka-sensei?" Naruto chuckled. It was just starting to hit sunrise, and the morning's cool air was a gentle contrast from the night's incident. Iruka, still sitting under his tree, struggling against his injuries looked up at Naruto. "Hey Naruto, come here please. I've got a present for you. But you'll have to close your eyes before I give it to you."

* * *

The ninja who had been searching for Naruto, came back to the Lord Hogake's manor displeased with their lack of results. "Did you guys find him!?" "No, he could be miles away by now!" "This is awful! What are we going to do!?"

However the Third walked out to greet the group as he drew some smoke from his pipe. "There's no longer any need to worry." He smiled to himself. The group of shinobi were stunned and understandably confused. "The scroll is safe, and Naruto will be back soon." Hiruzen had been doing his own searching using a technique that channeled images to the user through a crystal ball. It had taken some time to find Naruto's chakra, but once he did he was able to watch the events that followed after Mizuki revealed Naruto's secret to him. He was stunned Naruto managed to learn a technique from the scroll to stop the traitorous Chunin, but to his surprise it all worked out for the better.

 _'I suppose I'll have to re-evaluate the teams I had made…'_

* * *

All Naruto could hear was the sound of the birds starting the morning, and feel the warmth of the sun, ushering the new day. However he still had his eyes closed, at his sensei's request.

But Naruto only had so much patience. "Can I open my eyes now, Iruka?" Iruka chucked at his impatient student. "Yes Naruto, you can open your eyes now." When Naruto opened his eyes, he had expected Iruka to be holding something, but what shocked him was the lack of something. Iruka was smiling at him, but he was no longer wearing his forehead protector. Naruto felt his forehead, and noticed his googles were gone, and were replaced. "Congratulations! You can consider yourself a graduate after the events of this night."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was feeling and had heard. Iruka replaced Naruto's goggles with his own forehead protector, and just told him his dream was one step closer to being achieved. "And to celebrate, tonight we can go out for some ramen!" Iruka told his young student. Naruto was fighting a tear of joy, but then decided to give Iruka the biggest hug he could muster. "Haha, ow! Be careful, that hurts still!" Iruka coughed, but laughed. _'Now that you're a full-fledged shinobi, your life is going to be much more difficult…but I suppose I can save that speech for later.'_ Iruka smiled as he hugged his student back.


	2. Chapter 2

Well I hit the goal of three likes so here is the second chapter. Some of you may notice, that I'm following the formula of both the show, and manga, and adding small elements of my own. This chapter is where I feel I'm able to show more of my own ideas for this story. Anyway let me know how I'm doing with the established guidelines I set for myself.

* * *

Konohagakure Village- "The Village Hidden in the Leaves." Today, one young man begins his quest to become a full-fledged ninja. On top of the roof of the Academy Naruto was sitting in front of a camera man, as he was setting up his gear. "So…you want me to take the picture with you looking like that?" The camera man hesitantly asked. "Yeah, go for it!" Naruto excited shouted. "Jeez…kids these days. You'll be sorry." His thumb was on the button as he looked under the camera cover. "In three, two, and one."

As Naruto prepared to meet the Hokage to turn in his documents for graduation, he thought about everything his life would throw at him now. He made his way up the stairs and bumped into a person turning around the corner. As Naruto fell on his butt, he heard a soft thud and looked at what hit him. It was a girl his age with indigo hair, panicking as she saw what hit her. "N-Naruto! I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going! Are you okay?!" The girl panicked. Naruto took a minute to think, he knew this girl but couldn't think as to what her name was. He noticed she had accidently knocked his papers out of his hand, and reached to gather them up back into their folder. "It's okay, I probably should have watched where I was going too! I just wanted to make sure everything was in order before I turn in my papers to become a ninja!" Naruto smiled as he stood up with his papers in hand. He then reached a hand out to the girl, and she looked at his hand confused. "Here. Let me help you up…Hinata right?" He offered as the possibility of her name entered his head. "Oh thank you, yes my name is Hinata" the girl timidly smiled.

She couldn't believe her unfortunate luck. She ran into this boy, and he managed to pick up his papers and stand up to help her before she could realize what was going on. She felt so embarrassed. "So..." Naruto started in order to break the silence over the girl, "You excited about getting our teams soon?" Hinata nodded her head. "Y-yes, I can't wait. I'm hoping we can get along well enough." In her mind she had another hope, one that she wouldn't voice in front of anyone. "Well I don't see why anyone wouldn't get along with you, you seem nice enough." Naruto smiled as he scratched the back of his head. He then looked up at a clock on the wall. "Damn! I'm gonna be late!" The blonde started to take off but turn his head around to shout, "It was nice talking to you Hinata, and who knows? Maybe we'll even be on the same team, so we can talk more often!" Hinata watched stunned as Naruto disappeared around a corner. _'Does Naruto want to be on the same team as me?'_ A light blush adorned her face as she decided to head home, wrapped up in thought.

* * *

Sitting in front of the Third Hokage was Naruto, laughing as the Third looked at a document in utter disbelief. The document he was looking at had Naruto, with his hair spikier than usual, wearing white face paint, whit red paint adorning his facial feature as kabuki makeup would. To top it all off, Naruto's picture had him trying to give the best intimidating scowl possible. "So whaddya think? It was hard getting the right expression! In fact it took me three hours to get it perfect! But, with my artistic vision-"

"Do it over!" The Third interrupted. "We can't accept this photo Naruto." Naruto chuckled to himself, but on the outside he looked annoyed. "Oh really, old man?" Getting up from his chair, Naruto made the hand motions for a transformation jutsu. As the smoke cleared, Naruto's infamous centerfold jutsu was seen from the smoke, but instead of being suggestively naked, 'she' had a bright fire red, form fitting dress on. It hugged every curve of the 'girl', only going down as far as 'her' mid-thigh, as one spaghetti strap could be seen hanging off 'her' shoulder. "Pretty please, Lord Hokage, won't you accept it?" The troublesome blonde asked in a sultry female voice. Hiruzen was so stunned and taken aback he fell backwards in his chair, trying to create some distance from the distracting sight in front of him. As he fell down, Naruto reappeared from the smoke, laughing so hard he had to take his seat. _'So that's the ninja centerfold jutsu he uses to escape from my shinobi when he pulls pranks? Very tricky of him…'_ the Third thought as he picked up his chair and sat back down.

"So may I ask why you aren't wearing your hitai-ate, the headband that marks you as an adult shinobi of our village?" He asked, hoping to forget about the embarrassing event just now. "Oh I'm not putting it on before the orientation, I don't want to mess it up just yet, and it was a gift from Iruka-sensei after all." Naruto stated calmly. The Third lightly smiled, as he knew what Iruka had done for the young shinobi, and what Naruto went through to earn it.

"In any case, the secret dossiers in this yearbook are an essential intelligence resource, so to present such a photo for them is insulting." Hiruzen scolded. However Naruto started to crack up again. "Oh I know old man! I just wanted to get a farewell prank in before I start taking my new lifestyle seriously! I have my actual photo right here!" Naruto laughed as he pulled a second copy with a proper picture out of his orange jacket. "You should have seen your face when you saw my ninja centerfold!" The Third was stunned, that not only was he a victim for what could hopefully be Naruto's final prank, but he had taken the time to make a duplicate document with the proper information and photo.

Just as Naruto stood up to hand the actual copy to the Third Hokage, the door to the room opened up violently as a young boy shouted out. "Old man! I challenge you! Today I'll defeat you, and become the Fifth Hokage!" The young boy, no older than nine, with spiky brown hair coming out of a grey helmet, wielding a small shuriken charged into the room. Both Naruto and Hiruzen were shocked. _'If it's not one thing it's another.'_ the Third thought to himself.

Suddenly the boy tripped over his long blue scarf and fell on the floor, and cried out in pain. "Something tripped me!" The young boy cried out as he rubbed his sore head. Just then a shinobi ran in, garbed in mostly navy blue pants and shirt, black sunglasses, and a hitai-ate, with a navy blue bandana replacing the traditional band. "Are you alright, honored grandson?" He started, "And there's nothing for you to trip over in here." Naruto looked at the kid with annoyance. "Who is this little shrimp?" He asked. As the ninja caught his breath, he looked at Naruto in disgust. _'So it's our village disgrace. The so-called human form of the nine-tailed fox demon.'_

The young boy got up and looked at Naruto with a tiny scowl. "So you tripped me! It was you, right?!" The child shouted. Naruto stood up and grabbed the boy by the front of his scarf and raised a fist ready punch the young boy who got in his face. "You fell over your damn scarf!" Just then the shinobi who was chasing after the young boy shouted, "Unhand him! That boy is the grandson of our revered lord, the Third Hokage!" Naruto lowered his fist and looked at the boy confused. _'That stopped him. Just like all the rest. He won't dare lay a finger on me.'_ The boy thought. "I thought you were gonna hit me, tough guy?! Afraid because my grandfather is the Third Hokage?!" Naruto had enough and punched the young child on the top of his head. "I could care less if he was the Shinigami!" As the boy rubbed his second wound on his head, only one though was going through his mind. _'This guy is different.'_ Naruto left the room seeing as his business was done, as the sunglasses wearing shinobi looked on in utter shock.

* * *

"Listen to me carefully. You are the honorable grandson of the Third Hokage. You cannot let rift-raft draw you into a fight or a grudge." The shinobi lectured to the young boy. "Even though his kind deserves it. He's far beneath you, so you mustn't stoop to his level." He paused to clean his glasses." "You understand, right honorable grandson?" However he just now noticed he was only lecturing the air where the boy once stood. "Where did he go now?!" Hiruzen looked at the shinobi, as he was filing the last of Naruto's paperwork. "It would appear he followed Naruto." The shinobi wearing sunglasses shouted in a panic. "He's following Naruto? That's a disaster waiting to happen!" As he ran out in a panic, the Third took out his pipe, deciding it had been long enough since he had a good smoke.

 _'That grandson of mine is being ruined by overindulgence. These careless attempts at surprise attacks are a persecution to us all.'_ As the Lord Hokage inhaled some tobacco, he sighed. _'But this time, my grandson might have bitten off more than he can chew. If he gets any instruction from Naruto, he could get so much worse…but Naruto wouldn't teach him anything bad…would he?'_

Naruto made his way through the village, deciding he should buy a few groceries for his up-coming day's training as a ninja with a team. However he noticed behind him a figure hiding behind a line post, staring at him. As Naruto walked a bit further, he noticed an illusion sheet, not necessarily blending in with the fence beside him. While the fence boards were up and down, the sheet had the boards going horizontally. "I can tell you're following me! That trick is so obvious, it's pathetic!" The young boy from earlier started to laugh as he brought down his sheet. "So you saw through my disguise! The rumors of your prowess don't lie!" The boy then pointed a finger at Naruto. "I want to become your apprentice! And you've got to show me how you manage to take on adults with little effort! Please Boss?!" Naruto looked at the boy confused. "Boss, huh? Well…how can I refuse?"

Naruto and the young boy sat down on fallen tree in the forest. "So when it comes to taking on an opponent, you have to have an idea of their weakness! Whenever adults would chase me down for committing pranks, to avoid almost all the men I used a variation on the illusion jutsu. I call it the ninja centerfold!" Naruto exclaimed. The younger boy was hanging to ever word that Naruto was saying. "That's the jutsu I saw you use on my grandfather to catch him off guard! Is that how it works?"

Naruto smiled. "Exactly! I learnt most adult men like women who are in 'those' kinds of magazines whether they admit it or not. So I use that as a way of distracting them so I can escape. So think about your trainer. Is there anything you notice about him that's off?" Naruto asked. The blue scarfed boy thought for a second. "Ebisu-sensei? Well…when I go looking for him for Hokage training, sometimes I find him near bath houses, giggling to himself at a fence." Naruto smirked. _'So Sunglasses is a pervert too huh? And he even peaks on women in the bathhouse! I'll teach this kid the centerfold jutsu, just to rile his teacher up!'_

Naruto stood up, mimicked by the young boy. "Alright I want you to focus your chakra, and imagine yourself as a girl on magazines!" As the young boy focused, smoke enveloped him and when it finally cleared Naruto wasn't to thrill with the result. True the boy made himself look like a woman, but 'she' had a full body figure and had a plain looking face. If Naruto had to guess, this kid really had no understanding of adults. "Looks like this is gonna take a while…" Naruto sighed.

* * *

Breathing heavily, Naruto brought two drinks, one for himself and the other for his new apprentice. "By the way, what's your beef with the old man anyhow?" Naruto opened his drink and took a sip, waiting for his student to answer. Finally the young child spoke up. "My name is Konohamaru…my grandfather named me, after the ancient name of the village. He said it would bring me luck…" Konohamaru signed, "But even though everyone in the village knows my name, no one ever calls me that! It's just 'Honorable Grandson.' Konohamaru hung his head down. "No one ever sees me for who I am…just who I'm related to." Konohamaru lifted his head up as he balled his fist with determination. "But that will change when I become Lord Hokage, and that's going to be real soon!"

Naruto looked at Konohamaru, and laughed. "No one would respect a Hokage like you!" Konohamaru turned to his teacher, confused as why he was laughing. "It won't be easy to win the Hokage title in a matter of 'soon.' You don't get it just because you want it. To eventually become Hokage you know what you'll have to do?" Naruto asked. Konohamaru's confusion turned to determination. "What's that?" Naruto gave the boy a foxy smile. "You'll have to get past me first!" Konohamaru looked at his new teacher, stunned by the amount of dedication that could be seen in his smile, which was inspiring to say the least.

* * *

The Third Hokage looked at his predecessors on the mountains face, as he took in the afternoon air. As the wind was blowing, he heard the sound of a shinobi appear behind him. "Lord Hokage!" The Third turned around to see Iruka. Though he was mostly covered in bandages under his uniform, he was back on his feet refusing to let the previous events slow him down. "I heard you might be the last victim of Naruto's pranks, that he's going to take things more seriously," Iruka paused. "How did he get you?" The Third stiffened at the reminder of the prank he suffered earlier that day.

Iruka chuckled, surely it must have been a doozy. "Yesterday I treated him to a stern lecture over a bowl of ramen. He's been on cloud nine ever since he passed. He intends to become a full-fledged shinobi, and earn the respect of everyone in the village." The wind blew as the Hokage stood silently. "That may be a difficult dream for him to realize." The Hokage finally spoke up. "Why do you say that, Lord Hokage?" Iruka inquired.

"Only we who were adults at the time of the great battle know the truth…the spirit of the nine-tailed fox, that tormented our people until its defeat fourteen years ago, is within him. Disclosure of that secret is most strictly forbidden…under pain of the severest penalty our law can inflict." The Third took a draw from his pipe, "As a result, the children of our village know nothing of the truth. Among his peers, at least Naruto's secret is secure, and he has some hope of being accepted." Hiruzen sighed as he continued. "It was the fondest with of the Fourth Lord Hokage that our people came to regard Naruto as their savior and hero. He made that wish for him, sealed the child's fate…and died."

"Naruto, a hero?" Iruka asked, his voice wavering in confusion. The Third continued, "The Fourth selected a newborn child, and bound the spirt of the nine tails fox inside the infant. Naruto was sacrificed, for the safety of us all, to become a living vessel for the imprisonment of the fox- a jinchuriki. But that's not how the adults who know chose to see it. Instead their treatment of the boy is so contemptuous and hostile, it has been passed onto the children who have no idea of the truth, and it has perpetuated." Silence filled the air as leaves blew in the wind. "Could you imagine it, Iruka?" The Third's voice softly carried. "How it must feel…so much hatred and hostility…to be treated with an animosity as intense as to be annihilating…to have around you many who would deny you even…the right to exist."

* * *

As Naruto and Konohamaru sat down again, taking another break they heard a sound in the trees behind them. "There you are!" The two turned around and saw Ebisu, giving the coldest look to Naruto he could muster. 'It's that look…it's always that same look. They always look at me that way." Ebisu jumped down from the tree branch and made his way towards Konohamaru. "So, Honorable Grandson, it's time to go home." The young boy shook his head. "No way! I'm learning how to beat my grandfather, and become the next Hokage, so get lost!" Ebisu chuckled as he walked closer to Konohamaru. "The Hokage is more than just a fighter, a Hokage must know and understand the eight principles that are the cornerstones of all knowledge of the shinobi: virtue, justice, ceremony, wisdom, loyalty, faithfulness, prudence, and filial piety! He is to be master of several jutsu; and you don't even know one." Ebisu declared in a condescending manner. "Oh yeah!?" Konohamaru shouted as he made the hand sign for an illusion. As the smoke cleared, in place of where Konohamaru had been standing, there was a woman with long flowing brown hair, and fair skin. The smoke that lingered covered up the most suggestive part of 'her' body. "How's this for a jutsu?" The 'woman' asked in a sultry voice, as she gave a suggestive wink.

Ebisu was horrified, and almost on the verge of passing out from disbelief. "WHAT KIND OF SCANDLOUS TECHNIQUE IS THAT?" He shouted. "That's not fit for a gentleman's eyes, and I will not fall for it!" Ebisu grabbed Konohamaru by the scarf and attempted to drag the boy away. "Honorable Grandson, if you lower yourself to consort with creatures of this sort, you will descend to his level! Only by following my teachings will you ever merit the title of Hokage, now let's go!" Konohamaru tried to fight back. "No! Let me go!"

At this point Naruto had enough. "Hey! If he doesn't want to go, listen to him or I'll make you!" Naruto crossed his hands to form the hand sign required for the Multiple Shadow Clone technique, and over a dozen clones appeared. "Wow! That is totally cool Boss!" Konohamaru shouted in amazement. Ebisu smirked as he adjusted his sunglasses. "I'm not impressed. I'm a Jounin, an elite shinobi warrior, and I'm not a fool like Mizuki!" And with those words he entered a battle stance.

The third sat at his desk, with his crystal ball, looking for his grandson. _'If Konohamaru is hanging out with Naruto, there is no telling what influence Naruto may have on the boy. I have no doubt Naruto is being kind to him, but I pray Konohamaru won't pick up on Naruto's prankster tendencies…Naruto said he was going to take things more seriously, but the village doesn't need Konohamaru taking over.'_ The Third took a deep inhale of his pipe. 'I'm getting much too old to deal with these young children and their energy.' As he focused his chakra, his crystal ball revealed Naruto and Ebisu ready to clash heads, as Konohamaru watched in awe.

Naruto closed his eyes, thinking about how to best handle this situation. He knew the jounin was right, but he still wanted to teach a lesson to this guy for being so aggressive and condescending to Konohamaru. He then started to smile as he opened his eyes. _'Well old four-eyes has a little habit that he doesn't want the world to know…I suppose I can make this work to my advantage!'_ As Ebisu began to face Naruto's clones head on, the clone all made a hand sign and disappeared in a giant cloud of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, nothing could prepare Ebisu for what he saw. Naruto's infamous centerfold jutsu had been placed on all of the clones, as they all huddled around the mortified jounin. As they pressed their bodies on Ebisu, they gave several suggestive remarks. Watching in his crystal ball the Third was just as mortified as the jounin was, and put his hand to his face, wondering if it was too early in the day for sake. Ebisu reached his limit, and passed out in utter disbelief at what his 'innocent' eyes had seen. Behind all the disappearing clones could be seen Naruto with a triumphant smile. "I call that the Ninja Centerfold Harem, and that's what you get for messing with messing with my student!" The Third had managed to muster thoughts again and just sighed. _'He's combined Shadow Clones with his infamous Ninja Centerfold jutsu? What a foolish waste of ninja techniques…but he could probably get me with it too…'_ The Third hung his head with a light blush on his face.

* * *

"Blast! I couldn't even beat that snobby trainer of mine!" Konohamaru complained. "I keep wanting to be Hokage so bad, and I want it right now!" Naruto looked at the young boy with an annoyed look. "You think wanting it is all it takes?" Konohamaru looked up, confused at the older boys sudden words.

"You're talking about the title of Hokage, a title for a great shinobi that everyone respects. My whole life has been one thing after another, and it caused me to even doubt myself. Even the one person who treats my dream with any respect, took forever to win over. So I ask you this; are you ready to make the commitment?" "Commitment?" The young boy softly asked. "Everybody, and I do mean everybody, has the highest respect for honored Hokage title. So you better be ready for lots of sweat, blood, and tears…" Naruto turned around as the wind blew around the two. He looked back at Konohamaru with a smile on his face. "Do you get it? There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage…believe it."

Konohamaru just stood there as all of Naruto's words throughout the day resonated in his mind. _'To eventually become Hokage, you know what you'll have to do? You'll have to get past me first!'_ Konohamaru scoffed. "Where do you get off, lecturing me like that? You're not so hot!" Konohamaru's scarf blew in the wind. "I'm not going to be your apprentice anymore! From this day forth…" Konohamaru paused to look Naruto directly eye to eye. "We will be rivals, fighting for the same dream!" Naruto looked at the boy, as they both smiled. "It's your tough luck! I'll always be one step ahead of you, one step closer to my destiny as the finest shinobi. But…hell! One day we'll fight for the title of Lord Hokage." Naruto gave a warm smile to the boy. "You better look forward to that day…Konohamaru."

As Naruto walked off and gave a friendly wave good bye to his new rival, the Third, who had been watching the scene in his crystal ball smiled. He was proud of both Naruto and his grandson. He knew there would be many challenges along the road of life, but he knew that had taken an excellent start on the journey to achieve their dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

As morning greeted the Leaf Village, young Naruto rose from his bed, and let out a yawn from the previous night's sleep. He took of his black sleeping cap, which had two grumpy eyes and a nose and set it on his bed. His hair was more of a mess than usual, but he decided he'd take care of that after breakfast. Naruto's apartment was small, but suited him just fine. The Third had helped him acquire it, after Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage.

* * *

Naruto remembered that day. His life in the orphanage wasn't bad at first; sure the matron and her attendants didn't really pay too much attention to him, but he understood it was very busy taking care of everyone, especially since he learned of the incident fourteen year ago. He knew he was always full of energy, so the already overworked attendants would rarely want to give more energy controlling the young Naruto. He would play with the other children, the bigger kids' reading stories of the shinobi of the past to him, which inspired him to show interest in the ninja arts. But he never had time to make friends, since those he started to bond with, would be adopted in a couple days.

Naruto thought back to when the new matron took over. The previous woman, though well loved, was very old and was ready to retire. The children were sad to see her go, but they warmed up to the new matron; that is all except for Naruto. It was clear to him when he was young, the new matron did not like him, though at the time Naruto didn't understand why. She would always make him work harder than the other children, or yell harshly at him for the smallest things.

One day Naruto was playing tag with some of the younger kids and they all had been tagged by Naruto, save for one five year old. Naruto chased the boy and tripped as he reached to touch the boys arm, resulting in him accidently tackling the kid to the ground. As the five year old started to cry, Naruto tried his best to cheer the boy up, however the matron had heard the child's cries, and blamed Naruto for attacking the boy, and kicked him out of the orphanage. The then seven year old Naruto was emotionally devastated, but refused to cry, not wanting to give the matron the satisfaction.

Naruto remembered that day, since that's when he meet the Third Hokage. Hiruzen had been out taking a stroll in the village when he saw young Naruto sad at a swing in the park. "What's the matter child?" He asked. He knew this boy as the one who held the nine tailed fox demon, and had hoped no one had revealed that knowledge to him. "I got kicked out of the orphanage, for a misunderstanding, we were playing tag and I tripped trying to get the last kid, and knocked him to the ground. It wasn't my fault and I tried to help, but the matron was mad at me at chased me off. I said sorry as many times as I could, but she still pushed me away." Naruto choked out.

The Third sighed. He knew he couldn't just fire the matron, since she was the only one equipped for the job currently. He decided he'd have to confront her later about this, but for now his attention was turned to Naruto. "Naruto is it?" He started. "I'm sorry to hear about that. I'll take care of this matter, but I do have a proposition for you, if you'd like to hear it." Hiruzen smiled. "Lord Hokage…what's a prop-pa-propazition?" Naruto stumbled on the last word as the Third chuckled mentally. 'Of course he'd not understand that word, he is only a child.' "Proposition. It means an offer. How would you like a place of your own to live?" The Third knew that children could live on their own, in fact some of the village's best ninja had graduated at the age of seven, no older than Naruto. "But Lord Hokage, I'm just a child…how could I afford a place of my own or food? I don't work ninja missions, and I don't have a job." Naruto asked. "Well child, we can work it out that you can do task that I'll consider 'unofficial' D-ranked missions, which would be chores for shops and villagers. I'll even buy you enough food and furniture to get you started until you pick up some headway with this." The Third smiled. "THANK YOU LORD HOKAGE! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU I PROMISE I'LL DO WELL!" Naruto shouted as he wrapped his arms in a violent, but well-meaning hug.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he looked around his apartment. Life seemed rough for him at first but he wouldn't have it any other way. In fact those 'unofficial' D-rank missions he did helped develop his love of pranks. Villagers wouldn't be happy with him around, but tolerated him as long as he did work for them. Some of the villagers made their disgust known, so when Naruto would finish a job, he'd leave a parting gift, hoping to knock those people down a peg or two.

The blone smiled at the memories of his pranks as he finished his breakfast. He decided he'd have some instant ramen, with some fruit and toast. He had also had an empty glass that he started to pour milk into until he heard a wet plop. He looked at the milk and gave it a small sniff. _'Drat. I forgot to get fresh milk the other day since Konohamaru was following me for lessons.'_ Naruto poured the milk down the drain and sighed as he put the empty carton on the table with a note attached that said "Buy new milk".

He knew he would be busy today, so after he got dressed he filled a watering can with water and looked at the plant next to the sink. It was a small house fern, which was a very rich emerald green. The leaves were very tame and its terra cotta pot very basic but it was very well taken care of. "Today's the day Ukki. You seem happy today. I bet you'd be happier with some more friends, huh?" Naruto always loved to talk to his fern, which he affectionately called Ukki. It gave him something to talk to at any time of the day, even though he knew it wouldn't talk back. He felt his goggles around his forehead and nearly forgot, he had a hitai-ate now, the one Iruka gave him. He made the switch and left out the door.

* * *

In his old classroom, Naruto sat down at a table contently smiling to himself. As he was slouching in his seat, a boy looked at him as he made his way down the stairs to another table. "Hm? What are you doing here, Naruto? This isn't for dropouts, you can only be here if you graduated." Naruto looked smugly at the other boy his age. He had dark brown hair that was tied in a ponytail, which seemed to defy gravity. He had a grey short sleeved jacket, outlined with green trim. His shirt was a simple fishnet a-shirt, and wore dark grey pants. His hitai-ate was tied around his left upper arm. "Open your eyes and take a look at the headband Shikamaru!" Shikamaru looked dumbfounded at Naruto. He had an obvious point, but didn't want to admit he was wrong so he left to find a seat.

A few rows diagonally behind the two boys, Hinata had been watching as she heard Naruto's name mentioned. She smiled at the blonde as her face got a shade red. _'You've worked so hard, and I'm glad to see you so excited for today.'_ She then thought back to the other day when they bumped into each other. _'I hope he wouldn't mind if we were teammates.'_ As Naruto adjusted himself in his chair he heard a voice talking to him. "Excuse me, may I pass?" Naruto looked beside him and saw a girl who made him blush a bit. She had fair skin, emerald green eyes, and long flowing bubblegum pink hair. She was wearing a red qipao dress that had white circular designs. She had dark green biker shorts that could be see through the slits of her dress. Her hitai-ate was tied as a hairband. Naruto looked away as he thought. _'No way…she wants to sit next to me?'_ She then started to yell at him when he wasn't responding. "Move it! I'm trying to get around you!"

Naruto looked to his left to see a black haired boy, brooding at his seat. He had a dark blue jacket, which the collar went up to his neck, and white arm warmers on his forearms. His black hair was spiky in the back, and over his hitai-ate his bangs hung out just leaving the leaf symbol visible. What was noticeable were his dark black eyes, which gave a thousand mile stare and seemed empty of interest.

 _'Sasuke Uchiha. I hate this guy. He thinks he's so cool.'_ As Sakura pushed Naruto aside to sit in the middle of them, Naruto begrudgingly re-shifted in his seat. As the classroom filled with excited discussion, and a few glares from the other females at Sakura, Naruto continued to stare at the two sitting to his left. Sakura was fidgeting in her seat as she could feel her face burning with a dark blush. _'Today's the day that Sasuke will be mine!'_ she meekly thought to herself. Naruto had enough as he jumped in front of Sasuke, and while squatting, inspected the brooding Uchiha. Sasuke broke out of his thoughts and glared at the blonde in front of him, who was sizing him up. Meanwhile Sakura jumped out of her seat and growled at Naruto. "Naruto, you jerk! Leave Sasuke alone!"

Naruto continued to glare at Sasuke. _'What's the big deal with him? Why is everyone so obsessed with him?'_ Two wouldn't let up in their glares, neither wanting to back down. Sparks could be felt between the two as it could only be called the calm before the storm. Just then a boy in the front row jumped back as he tried to dodge a bee that had wondered into the classroom, and bumped something behind him. It was Naruto who he had bumped into, and it cause Naruto to hit his headband off of Sasuke's, causing a headache to the both of them. "What was that for, you piece of shit!?" Sasuke yelled as he massaged his forehead. "I didn't do it on purpose, you bastard!" Naruto shouted as he rubbed his forehead as well. Suddenly, Naruto could feel bloodlust beside him. "Naruto…" He turned around to see an icy glare from Sakura. "HOW DARE YOU HURT SASUKE!"

* * *

Naruto had decided he needed a new seat, as he nursed the new wounds on his head. _'I didn't even mean to bump heads into him, and she beat me up for it.'_ He noticed that there was an empty seat next to the quite lavender eyed girl he knew as Hinata. He walked to where she was sitting and sighed. "So I'm in need of a new seat, since sitting near Sasuke is too much hassle. Mind if I sit here?" He asked politely. Hinata squeaked from her daydream and noticed the blonde looking at her with a polite smile. "Naruto! Of course you can! Are you alright?" She asked in a worried tone. Naruto just laughed as he squeezed in behind her to take his seat beside her. "Oh this? I'm fine Hinata! It will take more than this to keep me down." He said excitedly. "I just got beat up for hitting into Sasuke." Naruto stated with some venom on Sasuke's name. "Anyway enough about that downer, you ready to get our teams and start our awesome missions?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hinata for a reply. Hinata blushed a little as she found her voice. "H-honestly? I'm just nervous for our team placement." Hinata's index fingers were in front of her face, as she poked them together, a nervous habit of hers. Naruto smiled at her as he replied, "I know what you mean, and as long as I don't get paired with Sasuke I'll be happy." Hinata looked at Naruto's smile and found herself looking away again. _'Oh Naruto, if only I could be paired with you.'_ She thought to herself. The idea of being on the same team as Naruto was something she wanted, but didn't get her hope up on.

Iruka stepped into the classroom as he looked at all his previous students. He had a clipboard behind his back as he stood in front of the class. "From this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full-fledged shinobi." He started. "But, among the ranks of shinobi, you are mere novices, the lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead. The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village. We will begin by dividing you into three-man squads. Each of which will be mentored by a jounin, a senior ninja who will guide you and coach you as you become familiar with your various assignments."

 _'Three man squads? That sounds like two too many…'_ Sasuke thought as he closed his eyes in boredom. Sakura had balled her fist in determination. _'I just know I'll be paired with Sasuke!'_ She smiled. Naruto, who had his hand propping his head in contemplation just sighed. _'I hope I'm paired with Sakura. It would be a good chance to get to know her. I don't really care who the third is…just as long as it isn't Sasuke!'_ Iruka looked at the new gennin in front of him, as he turned a page in his clipboard. "The selections have been made so that each cell's abilities would be approximately equal. Squad 7 will comprise of Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto looked up as his name was called, hoping for a good team he could get along with. "Sakura Haruno," Naruto smiled, as Sakura hung her head down in disappointment. "And Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka finished. As Naruto growled in disappointment, Sakura stood up in cheer, with her arms in the air, and cheered, "Oh yeah! I'm on a team with Sasuke!" Hinata looked at a frustrated Naruto beside her, as her lavender eyes looked disheartened. _'I won't be with Naruto then... I hope you can do well, Naruto.'_ She sighed as Iruka spoke up. "Next Squad 8; Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame."

Suddenly to Hinata's surprise, Naruto quickly stood up from his seat. "Iruka-sensei! Why do I have to be on a team with that jerk Sasuke?! Can't I be with someone else?!" Hinata had looked at Naruto as he said this. _'Could he possibly want to be with me as well?'_ Hinata blushed as she shook her head negatively. _'No, he just doesn't want to be with Sasuke.'_ Iruka looked at the young blonde, with his hands on his hips in a scolding manner. "Naruto, of the twenty-seven of you, Sasuke has the best grades, while you are ranked bottom of the class. The idea of these squads is to balance your strengths. That's why you ended up together!" Sasuke looked at Naruto who wasn't too far from where he had been sitting. "Just don't drag me down with you…loser." At the brooding boy's last word, Naruto looked at him, infuriated. "What did you call me?!" Sakura stood up as she threw a book at Naruto. "Just knock it off, Naruto!" Naruto sat back down, already angered enough more then he wanted to be today. _'I need to keep my head cool. Like it or not, I guess we're all stuck together. Perhaps lunch together might patch things up between us all.'_

Naruto looked at the girl beside him, as Iruka continued to call out squads. "Hey what's the matter, Hinata?" He knew she was upset, he knew her look in her eyes was that of sorrow, eyes he knew all too well in his own life. "N-nothing too bad, Naruto." She mustered up a small smile as she continued, "I hope you can make things work with your squad Naruto." Naruto, unintentionally forgetting about the girl's previous expression, laughed a little bit. "Yeah, well if not, maybe I can beat some of that attitude out of Sasuke!" "Okay, everyone. I'll be introducing your jounin instructors this afternoon. Until then, you're dismissed."

* * *

As the genin started to walk out of the Academy, Sakura looked around, as she called out. "Sasuke! Where are you?" But she couldn't find him. _'Why did he take off so fast? I thought maybe we could have lunch together since we're in the same group and all, and get to know each other.'_ Sakura sighed as he heard someone call her name. "Hey Sakura! Since we're in the same group and all, I was thinking we can have lunch together, and get to know each other. We can even invite Sasuke." Naruto stated, that last part to his dismay. Sakura however sneered at the offer. "Why would I eat lunch with YOU? How could that thought even cross your mind?" Naruto's demeanor waved a little, but he masked it up to respond. "But we're all in the same group together so I thought-" Sakura looked at the blonde dead in the eyes as she interrupted. "Naruto…you're annoying." And she walked off, continuing her search for Sasuke. Naruto sighed as he went to find a spot to eat his lunch.

"There's got to be an upside to this. Sasuke is such a jerk! And Sakura…" Naruto said aloud on top of a water tank. He finished his apple as he looked at the sky. Suddenly an old spark lit in his mind. He laughed as he pulled out a rope from his jacket pouch.

Sasuke was standing on the deck outside his window, as he ate some onigiri. He liked to watch the clouds at this time of day, it let him take his mind off things, even just for a moment. Unbeknownst to him, Naruto was inside the building, with a rope in his hand, hiding under the window still. 'So Sasuke lets his guard down when he's eating lunch? I better be a good teammate and show him the error of his ways.' Naruto quickly pulled Sasuke into the building as he struggled to tie the black haired boy up. "Hey! Who the hell-NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled, as he tried to fight back. "Hey keep it down, Sasuke!" Fighting could be heard outside the window, and then suddenly silence. Sasuke jumped out as he picked up his last ball of onigiri, and scoffed. "Fool…"

* * *

Sakura sat down on a stone bench that was beside a road towards The Academy. As she sat down, she sighed as some the green leaves from the trees around her, blew away with the wind. _'How could I think Sasuke would like me when I got so short-changed in the T & A department? The only part of me that's oversized is my stupid forehead!'_ Sakura looked up from her musings and saw the last person she expected, leaning against a tree across from her. _'It can't be! Sasuke- he's looking right at me!'_ Sasuke was indeed looking at her, his arms crossed as he relaxed on his tree, and he gave her a rouge like smile. Sakura couldn't believe her luck, as a strong blush enveloped her face. _'Sasuke is looking at me…with bedroom eyes! As if he could see through me!'_

Just as her blush couldn't be any more severe, Sasuke was only inches away from her, as she realized she had stood up to look up into his eyes. "You have such a charming forehead, Sakura…so charming I could kiss it." Sakura struggle to speak up. "W-well that's what it's there for…" She then realized she was just having a daydream, as she saw the real Sasuke walk towards her bench. Sakura sighed in disappointment. _'Fairytales don't come true…and that couldn't happen to me…'_ "You have such a charming forehead, Sakura," Sasuke started as Sakura looked up in utter shock. "So charming I could kiss it." He finished. Sakura couldn't believe what she heard just now. Her object of affection, complimenting a part of her body she hated so much…her fantasy from a moment ago, played out to the letter. She stared in Sasuke's eyes in disbelief. _'If this is a dream…I don't want to wake up…'_ Sasuke smiled for a minute as he stared at her. "That's probably something Naruto would say." "Oh." Sakura lightly spoke, as she hung her head down again.

Sasuke moved to take a seat next to her on the bench as he started up a new conversational topic. "I want to ask you something." As he sat down, he shifted his gaze away from her, as she perked up her head to listen to her new teammate's inquiry. "Naruto; what do you think of him?" Sakura stiffened a bit at the mention of the annoying blonde's name as gazed at the road in front of the bench. "If he had his way, I'd never find love or happiness…he ruins everything…Naruto doesn't understand me at all! He's just annoying, and I can't stand to have him anywhere near me!" Sasuke looked at her as she continued.

"In fact, the one person whose opinion I value…the only one I really want to be close to…is you, Sasuke." Sasuke's cool demeanor was replaced by eyes wide open and a stunned expression as he looked the pink haired girl in her emerald eyes. "Only you, Sasuke…you're the only one I want to be close to…because I have a crush on you. I'd do almost anything to win your attention…your respect…" Sakura's blush deepened as she leaned in closer to Sasuke's face. "I'd do anything for that." She closed her eyes as she leaned in closer, her lips showing what she wanted. Sasuke remained frozen as his heart pounded at an increasing rate. He looked at the soft expression on her face as she leaned in to kiss him. ' _I don't think I can do this with her…I don't deserve this…_ '

* * *

Outside the building's window where Naruto and Sasuke had come to blows with each other, struggling could be heard. As a young genin struggled with his bindings around his hands and behind his back, he grunted as he continued to work the ropes. _'I let my guard down!'_ He thought. He remembered what had happened. When Naruto pulled Sasuke into the building they had fought and Sasuke had managed to beat Naruto to unconsciousness with his fighting skills, and tied Naruto up to subdue him. All of a sudden, in front of Sasuke's eyes, Naruto's body disappeared in a flash of smoke, and was replaced with a small log, with the rope tied loosely around it. Sasuke couldn't believe what he was seeing, where had Naruto gone? Suddenly he heard multiple voices speak out behind him. "Got'cha!" Sasuke continued to fight with his ropes as he remembered the events. _'In class he couldn't even do a simple replication, how could he outsmart me? What's more, he's out there posing as me…what is he up to?'_

* * *

As Sakura leaned in further for her kiss, 'Sasuke,' pulled away in a panic, and started to take off. Sakura looked in surprise as she called out in confusion. "Sasuke, what the matter?" As 'Sasuke' ran off, he called out to answer her, so she wouldn't worry and follow him. "I'll be right back!" As his voice carried off the further he ran. Sakura blinked a few times, as the worry was gone from her face, and replaced with another blush as she smiled. _'Oh Sasuke…He's shy!'_ Sakura giggled as her blushed. _'Maybe he needs to gather his courage to…'_ Sakura couldn't help but giggle again.

Naruto sat down at the water tank he had been earlier that day as he dispelled his illusion that let him pose as Sasuke. _'What was I thinking? I did that so I could find out how she really feels…and she can't stand me.'_ Naruto sighed as he looked at a cloud passing by. _'I can't believe I thought about taking that kiss she wanted to give to Sasuke. Her face seemed so happy, I couldn't take something like that meant for someone else…'_ Naruto breathed in as he felt a pain in his heart. He then decided to get up to his feet as he exhaled. _'I should untie him and let him know how Sakura feels about him…'_

* * *

Sakura was playing with the hem of her dress as she looked down the road and saw a familiar face. Her face lit up with excitement as she stood up. "Sasuke! You're back! Don't be so shy now! I'm right here and waiting for you!" Sasuke just continued to walk by her, indifferent to the fact she was there. As she turned to try and capture his attention, she saw the hint of anger on his face as he spoke up. "Where's that jerk, Naruto?" Sakura was flustered at the shift in the mood she remembered earlier and she replied in a bit of surprise. "You're changing the subject again! Can't we just get away from Naruto for one second?!" She paused, as her tone of voice was that of annoyance. "He's always comes between us!"

Sasuke, assuming she didn't know Naruto's location, started to go off on his search again. Sakura crossed her arms in frustration as she continued to rant. "It's because he was badly brought up!" Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, as he shot an icy glare towards Sakura, his voices seething in venom. "You mean…because he doesn't have any parents?" Sakura, not noticing the venom in Sasuke's voice, continued her rant. "Naruto doesn't have to answer to anyone, ever, and it's made him completely selfish! If I did the kinds of things he gets away with, my parents would ground me for life!" As Sasuke continued to Sakura's words he felt his anger reaching its limit. "Don't you envy him being alone, not having parents nag at you all the time?" Sasuke asked, as if to test her. The leaves continued to blow as Sakura answered her crush. "Kids without families always grow up selfish." "That, and lonely." Sasuke's response was not what Sakura was expecting at all. She had thought he would have taken her side. "Being scolded by your parents doesn't even compare. You have no idea what it means to be alone." Sasuke spat out. Sakura was scared by the venom on his words she was just now noticing. Her day had been wonderful up until this point, so she was shocked it was going this sour this quickly. Not fully trusting her voice she spoke up. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" The air around the two felt cold. "Sakura," Sasuke started, as he turned around to look her in the eyes from where he was standing. "You make me sick!" Sakura gasped, as she felt her heart break into pieces. All she could do was watch Sasuke stormed off, as she couldn't process anything else.

* * *

In Naruto's apartment, two figures stood as they inspected the room. The first figure was the Third Hokage, dressed in his white and red robes as he took notice of Naruto's fern Ukki. _'It's amazing how well he takes care of this fern. Even if he doesn't act like it, he has traits no one would ever expect from him, such as patience.'_

The second figure was dressed in the standard dark green flak jacket, dark blue pants, and long sleeved dark blue shirt most shinobi wore. He also wore finger-less gloves with metal plates for the back of the hands to be protected. What defined this shinobi from others, was a navy blue facemask, which covered his entire mouth, and his nose. His hitai-ate covered his left eye, leaving the only visible part of his face, which was a dark grey eye, with a relaxed, heavy-lidded expression. His hair was spikey and silver colored. This shinobi picked up the carton of milk that Naruto had left a reminder to buy more on.

"So this is young Naruto's apartment?" The mask figure asked. "Yes, he's clumsy and erratic, but you're the best choice to watch over him, and guide him. You have had experience with another just like him." The Third replied. The masked figure put the milk carton down, and he walked over to the small fern. "What's more you, another member you shall oversee will be Sasuke, of the Uchiha clan." The Third pulled out his pipe, as the other shinobi sighed as he looked at the fern. _'This could be a disastrous mission, but…'_ "I'll do my best, Lord Hokage."

* * *

Naruto continued to walk towards the room he and Sasuke had fought in, and noticed Sasuke was next to the door, with his canteen of water in hand. "How did you get out!?" Naruto asked in utter disbelief. "Those knots were tied three different ways!" Sasuke just smirked as he looked Naruto dead in the eyes. "A simple rope trick, any good shinobi is an escape artist. Try to keep that in mind…dunce." As Sasuke walked calmly past Naruto, Naruto reached inside his jacket pocket. "Hey Sasuke!" Naruto called out, as he tossed something towards the black haired boy's direction. Sasuke, thanks to his reflexes, caught what Naruto threw at him, reveling it was an apple. "Because I ate your last onigiri, since you let your guard down…bastard." Sasuke and Naruto walked away from each other, and as Sasuke bit into his apple he contemplated. _'This might not be so bad after all…'_


End file.
